NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — In a one-on-one interview with 1010 WINS, newly-appointed NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that she plans to modernize the department with forward-looking technology like Artificial Intelligence and drones, alongside a more traditional push to deploy more officers to the streets.
Mayor Eric Adams appointed the 12-year NYPD veteran and former sanitation commissioner to the top cop spot last week, emphasizing that Tisch “has dedicated her professional life to serving the people of New York City.”
The city government stalwart joined the NYPD’s counterterrorism bureau in 2008.
“When I walked in, in 2008, they were typewriters in every precinct and in headquarters,” Tisch, 43, reminisced.
She worked as planning and policy director to help shape the department’s post-9/11 security infrastructure, which included the deployment of mobile radiation detectors.
Tisch also helped develop a digital information-sharing tool that provided instant access to surveillance cameras and license-plate readers, and eventually moved onto a role as deputy commissioner for information technology.
By the time she left in 2020, Tisch said: “The cops had body cameras and smartphones and tablets in every car, we had rolled out the domain awareness system.”
The commissioner said that she plans to focus on the next generation of technology, to continue moving the department forward from where she helped bring it to in 2020.
“I am a modernizer,” she said. “And that has been one of the themes throughout my entire career in government.”
But Tisch also hears the concerns of New Yorkers over public safety, especially in regards to random acts of violence, and plans to approach it with a traditional strategy of more boots on the ground.
In 2017, the NYPD added 1,000 cops to the ranks. Referencing this, Tisch said: “I remember that in 2018 and 2019, we saw some of the lowest crime numbers that we've seen in this city since the 1950s. Adding officers works.”
She said that Adams plans to add some 1,600 officers to the force next year, and that’s who the public should be focusing on.
“Too often you read about palace intrigue at One Police Plaza, and it’s time really to put the focus on the men and women of the New York City Police Department, who are out there doing their thing on behalf of New Yorkers, day in and day out,” Tisch said.